The Christianville Spirit: Siblings, The 2nd Most Important People

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Inspires You

June 23, 2010- TCS # 204

So, I bet a lot of PTLS Families are wondering is who is The Most Important Person besides Their Parents that they need rely on? Their siblings, Their Brothers and/or Sisters. You See, a lot of PTLS Kids rely a lot of their parents because they understand them the most and they help stand up for their child if they need it. But, however though as we get older, The Parents start thinking about one hard question to answer for them, ”Who is going to take care of My Child, if something happens to me?” What makes it hard is that The Parents want to make sure that whoever is left to take care of them will do a good job. Most of the time, when it comes to who to choose for their guardian, which is the person next in line to take care of them can be the secondary parent, the sibling, or aunt/uncle.(depending on who understand them more and can support them) But, the way they choose is that The Parents and The PTLS Child themselves have to know that they can rely on their Brother/Sister to protect and support them. Let’s just say that, The Parents have an emergency out of town that they have to take care of. Who is going to take care of their child? Even as a Young Adult, I need My Brother to understand and watch out for Me. For The Most Part, I can take care of myself but, I still need someone to watch out for me. It’s important to My Mom that My Brother is there for me; I’m sure it’s same for other PTLS Parents. All in all, no matter what age, We still need someone to watch over us.



Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. If you’re a PTLS Family, Cherish The Fact that you have 2 or more Kids because it’ll make that question easier to answer.

The Christianville Spirit: The Oil Spill and Our Beach

The Christianville Spirit
The Spirit that Inspires You
June 16, 2010- TCS # 203

As most of You know, around this time of year My Mom, Grandma Honey, Myself and other family members are getting excited about our annual Smith Family Beach Vacation in Gulf Shores. But, as you can tell by the news about the oil spill, we’re most likely not going this year and if the oil isn’t stopped soon, likely stop going. Now, My Fellow Readers I can probably say that you’ve heard about and are sick of it. But, I feel it has gone on long enough that I have to say something about it. First of all, My Family’s Traditional Beach that we go to now Black from The Oil. Now, the space between the beach houses and the end of where the water washes up is still white. But, the thing is that is where no one goes there, except during a walk on the beach where you don’t get feet wet. Anyway, all of this oil stuff is making me mad because no one seems to doing anything, I mean I can say that at least BP is doing SOMETHING. But, still I think they should be doing more or either that BP should have let the other Nations like The Netherlands or Norway to help(which they have decided to do now) Anyway, The point is that their ruining 2 things, Our Family’s Beach Tradition and The best beach on the gulf. Actually, I know for sure the beaches spacing from Panama City to Biloxi/Gulfport are the best and most white beaches on the gulf. If you go farther west, The beach’s beauty doesn’t get better until around Corpus Christi and South Padre Island. One of the things that we loved about Gulf Shores were The Dolphins that put on a really good show for us every year, The Crabs that we would watch scurry across the beach, and The Sea Turtles come to nest their eggs every year at the same time, same place. But, now I’m concerned about all of them. All in all, I love my annual trip to the beach and I am really going to miss it.


Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Cherish the Places that you visit and Your Family’s Traditions because you never know when you’re going to lose them.

The Christianville Spirit: My Allergy Test

The Christianville Spirit
The Spirit that Inspires You
June 9, 2010- TCS # 202

So, 2 Days ago, I had to go to ENT because I have headaches all the time and we’re trying to figure out why I’m having them. Anyway, I had to go I had to have an Allergy Test done. Now, I had known for weeks about what it generally was and what was going to happen. But, Boy was I in for a treat. Now, Most People hate needles, including me but, for someone who hates them, this allergy testing was like your worst fears come true. This test had 2 parts to it, The first part, which I was ready for was a caterpillar-like prong with 20 small needles on it and that went on my lower arm(below where you usually have blood drawn) and that went up my arm to that point. After that was done I had to wait 20 Minutes to see if there was any reaction and there were only 2 that I saw. After the results were recorded, It was time for the 2nd part. Now, what they told me it was going to be was that they were going inject a needle just below the skin. Well, I actually assumed that it was going to be one shot, little did I know. So, the test was actually 36 INDIVIDUAL SHOTS. Yes, You heard me right 36! What a Surprise! They made 3 rows on my upper arm. Some of them you couldn’t feel much and other really hurt. The Results of the whole testing were that I was allergic to Cottonwood, Bermuda Grass, and The most surprising to me, Cats. So, all in all, It’s good to at least know what your allergic to so, yourself and others know so, they can prevent you from having an allergic reaction. But, it’s quite a test.


Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. If your going to get an allergy test, be ready for it.

The Christianville Spirit: My Mom's Kidney Stone

The Christianville Spirit
The Spirit that Inspires You
June 2, 2010- TCS # 201

So, On the Eve of my 200th Newsletter, I got up on Tuesday and everything was normal. I was having my lunch and my brother was sitting with me eating his lunch. That was until my Aunt Kathy came in and told me and my brother that My Mom was sick and had pains in her belly. So, I walk in to My Mom’s room to see if she was ok and she was laying across her bed in a curled position, quivering in pain. I asked her if she was ok and she said in a quivery voice, “No” and I asked her how I could help and she told me to put my hand on her lower back for pressure which actually helped. She turned out okay after an hour or so. Now, this wasn’t the case but, I actually thought that she was pregnant but she wasn’t. She was fine for the next couple days until she felt the same way again on Friday. But, this time Kathy and Michael weren’t around to help. Kathy was probably doing a massage and Michael was at Work. So, I was the only one at home with My Mom quivering in pain. This time since there wasn’t any help around, I panicked. I was so close to calling 911 because I didn’t know what was going on. I tried the stuff I knew, Ask Questions about how it started and if she had called anyone. She had told me she had called Kathy to let her know and so, I called her again saying “My Mom’s having an attack again” and she replied “I know”. so, there I was the only one at home and My Mom having what I called an “Attack” and waiting for Kathy to come over again. Aside from having my hand on her side, I felt so helpless because I didn’t know what to do and even if I called 911 which I was so close to doing, I thought to myself “I know the main parts of calling 911, You have the address, important details on if you have animals to watch for so the people are prepared.” but, then I thought, ”How do I describe what’s wrong with My Mom” well, after a little while of waiting Kathy comes over and help My Mom with this one. On Saturday, we decided to have a Garage Sale and she was fine all day. That was until around 5 o’ clock when My Mom and her long-time friend Judy began making plans for a cook-out that evening. But, then it happened again. But, this time I was more prepared for it. So, I did the same thing and while My Mom told me to look up “Kidney Stones”. So, I looked it up and read the symptoms, meanwhile Judy came to get My Mom to the Emergency Room. At about 11 PM she comes homes with 4 Band-Aids on her arms because she had been poked 4 times because they couldn’t find her vein. So, I was right and it was a 5mm Kidney Stone that she named Baby Huey. Since her diagnosis, she had several more “attacks”. Poor Mom! During this ordeal I felt helpless, sad, and sick to see My Mom like that. I was scared to death of what was happening with My Mom. I made me have an emotional crying/worrying spell and I was afraid she was going to die, stay in the hospital for several days and there wouldn’t be enough food for me to eat. My Mom had to assure me that she was not going to die, there would be food and people to take care of me, and that I did a lot to help her. And, in the end while I was crying to her, she told me I saved her life and I was the biggest help to her. All in all, this is has been an experience with how I deal with Emergencies. Though My Mom still chuckles when she thinks about the time she is quivering in pain and My OCD kicks in. She asked me to bring her medicine and stay and push on her back. But, I had to take the medicine back to the medicine cabinet, reminding you that I walk slow everywhere, before I could go rub her back. That’s just the way I am.




Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. I hear having a baby is less painful that giving birth to a Kidney Stone. I don’t want to experience either.

The Christianville Spirit: (TCS Series) My Readers

The Christianville Spirit
The Spirit that Inspires You
May 26, 2010- TCS # 200

OK, Everyone it’s time for the 6th and final Installment of The Christianville Spirit Series, “All Thanks to You”. But, First. This is my 200th Newsletter of The Christianville Spirit. You See, Little did I know that My Newsletter would be so popular and read by as many people as I thought it would be. You see, The Christianville Spirit started as an emailed newsletter being emailed to a couple Family Members and Friends. As the life of My Newsletter grew on, I changed my writing from every now and then to every other week. Then, as My Readership started to grow more. I decided to pick a day of the week to write and of course, I chose the day I write on now, Wednesday. This Newsletter itself has had changes as well. I went from just writing about whatever was going on in my life and News in Christianville, to writing Inspirational Articles on something I saw on TV, Heard on The News, Discussions I had with My Mom or Brother and how I viewed events in life and feelings behind it. But, before I ramble on too much about The History of My Newsletter, I’m going to thank the very people who keep me writing and keep this newsletter going. So, without further a due This is The Christianville Spirit Series, “All Thanks to You”. So, For the finale of the series, I’m going to thank YOU, My Readers because you mean so much to Me. So, anyway, The First Thing I Thank You for is Taking time to learn about me, my special needs, and not judging. I know My Grammar is not the best, as I just had to correct the way I spelled “Grammer”, so, The next thing I thank you for tolerating my need to capitalize words. The next thing I want to thank you for is thinking enough to share it with your family and friends. At the end of every newsletter that I’ve ever written, I write My trademark ending “Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit”, This is The MOST Important thing I thank you for because I really mean, Thank You for Reading The Christianville Spirit. All in all, If I could hug all of you wonderful readers, I would. Take this hug and know you are loved.


Thanks for Reading The 200th Edition of The Christianville Spirit. What a day to Celebrate to the 200th Newsletter and being blessed by God, Family, Friends, and Readers.

The Christianville Spirit:(TCS Series): PTLS Families

The Christianville Spirit
The Spirit that Inspires You
May 19, 2010- TCS # 199

Ok, Everyone it’s time for the 5th Installment of The Christianville Spirit Series, “All Thanks to You”. Now, before I get to the people I’m going to thank, If you have been following me and my newsletter since the beginning, next week’s newsletter is going to my 200th Newsletter of The Christianville Spirit and I’m very excited about it. And, of course, I’m going to end the “All Thanks to You” Series with a bang. Anyway, back to the people I’m going to thank. So, without further a due this is The Christianville Spirit Series, “All Thanks to You”. For this installment, I’m going to thank an entire union of people, The Families of The PTLS Union. You see, as PTLS Families are diagnosed, We add another wonderful family to what I’m going to call “The Union of PTLS Families” Anyway, so the first thing that I’m going to give thanks for are the parents for is even bringing your child for the study they have in Houston. Which as I went through myself isn’t that easy for the child or the parent. But, However it’s really worth it nowadays, because we have about 30 Families, More or Less who went through the study which we now can gain more information about PTLS. But, when I was diagnosed, there wasn’t much support or information because their weren’t any families. The next thing I thank them for is telling other people about PTLS because then, we get more families to support and support us. The next thing I thank them for is reading My Newsletter because I hear that it helps them be inspired and uplifted about their child when they grow up. I’m Happy to know that a lot of people need to read what I’m writing because most of the families who have children or a Young Adults to be able to see through the eyes of someone with PTLS, and let’s face it, it’s better than being left in the “unknown”. Anyway, another thing I want to thank them for is coming to The PTLS Conference in Houston last summer. But, for those who didn’t come, know there will be others in the future and of course know that we in “The Union of PTLS Families” love and support you. The Most Important Thing I thank them for is Loving their Children who they are. All in all, I Thank all the families for being part of “The Union of PTLS Families”.


Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Though it may not have been your choice, You are a part of a wonderful Community of PTLS Families which I call a Union.

The Christianville Spirit:(TCS Series): PTLS Doctors and Staff

The Christianville Spirit The Spirit that Inspires YouMay 12, 2010- TCS # 198

Ok, Everyone. It’s time for the 4th Installment of The Christianville Spirit Series, “All Thanks to You”. For this Installment I’m going to thank a group of people that rarely get thanked and that is Doctors and their Staff. The thing is, Doctors and Staff rarely get thanked for the things they do. Unfortunately, the only time Doctors get thanked when the patient is appreciative . But, you see the Doctors/Staff that I’m Talking about aren’t just any Doctors, They’re the Doctors/Staff of The PTLS Union. There are the very baseline of the Special Needs known as Potocki-Lupski Syndrome( also known as a duplication of Chromosome 17p11.2) so, without further a due, This is The Christianville Spirit Series “All Thanks to You”, the Doctors and Staff of The PTLS Union. The First thing I want to thank them for is putting me through the study to find this duplication in Me. Because, that is why I’m so unique and rare. You see, if it weren’t for them, I could have just been diagnosed with just Autism or unknown, nothing else. The 2nd thing I thank them for all their hard work in discovering everything about PTLS. The 3rd thing I thank them for is for putting together a website so people can learn more about all the things related to it. So, then Parents can know if their child or young adult has PTLS. The 4th thing I want to thank them for is having the first PTLS conference in Houston to bring all the PTLS families to come together, meet, and support each other. The next and most important thing that I want to thank them for is finally naming my duplication Because I feel that it’s easier to say that you have PTLS instead of “a duplication of Chromosome 17”. Anyway, My duplication was actually named by both Dr. Potocki and Dr. Lupski in March 2007. All in all, the people I’m thanking are Dr. Potocki, Dr. Lupski, Patti Furman, and All the other doctors involved because they are awesome.


Thanks for reading The Christianville Spirit. Thank a Doctor every now and then. Because they are there to heal you.

The Christianville Spirit: (TCS Series): The Smith Family

The Christianville Spirit
The Spirit that Inspires You
May 5, 2010- TCS # 197

Ok, Everyone. It’s time for the 3rd Installment of The Christianville Spirit Series, “All Thanks to You”. For this installment, I’m not only going to thank one person but, a whole group of people, The Smith Family. So, Without further a due this is The Christianville Spirit Series, “All Thanks to You” on The Smith Family. Now, to give you a little info. about The Smith Family, they are on My Mom’s side of the family, most of them live in the Eastern US. Here’s an interesting fact, If you put where they live on a map, they turn out to live on a straight line. (usually, near I-75, which I affectionately called “ The Smith Alignment”.) Anyway, The first thing I thank them, Mainly Grandma Honey with this one, is giving My Brother and I an awesome, classy Mom. The next thing I thank them for is for even being so classy because if they weren’t, then they could be disrespectful and rude to everyone. Now, this next thing I thank them for may sound funny to you but, I thank them for also looking so good and being loving to everyone. Funny enough, In our family we affectionately called it “The Smith Curse”, though I call it “The Smith Blessing”. and, of course the most important thing is understanding and supporting me with my special needs. All in all, The Smith Family are an awesome, loving family and I love being in it.


Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Cherish The Family You Have and Have a Happy Cinco de Mayo

The Christianville Spirit:(TCS Series) My Brother

The Christianville Spirit
The Spirit that Inspires You
April 28, 2010 - TCS # 196

Ok, Everyone. It’s time for the 2nd Installment of The Christianville Spirit Series, “All Thanks to You”. For this installment of this series I’m going to thank a person that I live with everyday at home, My Brother Michael. So, without further a due this The Christianville Spirit Series, “All Thanks to You”; Now, My Brother has quite a busy life. He’s got College Classes with tons of Homework and of course, working at Market Street. But, anyway the first thing I want to thank him for was for something he did back in High School. You see, it was his job to drive me home everyday from School since I can’t drive because of my reaction time and wanting to look at all the sites. The second thing I thank him for is having me fit in and sometimes hang out with his friends. Sometimes (usually in the week of Final Exams) when he took me home from school, my brother, myself, and some of his friends would go eat lunch or even one time we hung out at the mall for a while. The next thing and probably the most important thing I thank him for was coming with My Mom and I to Houston for The PTLS Conference. Instead of going home or going to Atlanta with my Uncle Bruce. And, after the conference he actually understood things about Potocki-Lupski Syndrome, and that really touched me. The final thing I thank him for was taking me to the Myerson Symphony Center to see the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Because that concert that really fun. All in all here, I have quite an awesome brother who loves me a lot as I love him.


Thanks for reading The Christianville Spirit. Everybody needs a Brother like My Brother Michael.

The Christianville Spirit:(TCS Series): My Mom

The Christianville Spirit
The Spirit that Inspires You
April 21, 2010- TCS # 195

When was the last time you thanked someone? Was it someone in The Army, Your Parents, Your Brother or Sister, or some stranger you met? Well, that got my thinking, thanking the people in my life that should be thanked every now and then. So, I’m deciding that since my 200th edition of The Christianville Spirit is short approaching, I should do a “Thank You” series leading up to it. So, here we go. I’m calling this The Christianville Spirit Series, “All Thanks to You”. So, without further a due, This is The Christianville Series, “All Thanks to You”. Now, this person I’m going to thank for the 1st Installment of this series is the most important of my life, My Mother. Now, don’t get my wrong, I thank My Mom all the time. But, I think she deserves a huge thank you that more than just “Thanks for Dinner” and “Thanks for taking me down some road or to some town”. So, the First thing I thank My Mom for is even giving birth to me. So, that I can be the light of the world and help lots of families with something that I didn’t know I had until I was around 9 Years old which is Potocki-Lupski Syndrome. Then, the second thing is giving me an awesome childhood by having us live with Mr. Jeff. Because otherwise My Childhood would be boring and stuck inside a fence or a single street like most of the kids in Plano have. Of course, there’s also thanking her for all the numerous road trips either down a new street or to a town I haven’t been to. I know, I’ve told you, my readers many times before but, My Mom took to a town called Texarkana which by the way, 3 Hours away from Plano in one day. Next, is one of the most important reason to thank her and that is that she understands me and My Special Needs. And, of course, when I have a problem, she helps me with it. Another thing tying to My Special Needs, she helped My Brother understand about My Special Needs and that most likely touched me the most. But, most importantly I just thank her for being My Mom. All in all here, My Mom is such an awesome Mom beyond belief and needs to be thanked every now and then.


Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Thank the people in your life for the things they do for you, because if you don’t they may stop.

The Christianville Spirit: My Great Grandma Mimi

The Christianville Spirit
The Spirit that Inspires You
April 14, 2010- TCS # 194

For those for you who know or about to find out, My Great Grandma Mimi passed away early Sunday morning. My Great Grandma Mimi (who I refer to as “Grandma Mimi”) was actually 94 Years Old. You see, My Grandma Mimi was a very strong women and she was famous in our family for that. In my eyes, from what I knew of her she was famous for two things. First, according to My Mom, when she washed the dishes after dinner, she would not just use hot water and it’s done. My Grandma Mimi would have the water soo hot that lot of steam would be coming from the sink. The second thing she was famous for was her health. In Fact, she was by far the healthiest person in our family. Each time that we would talk about her, I would always say that she was “As Healthy as a Horse”. Now, My Grandma Mimi was also a person of tradition, in fact whenever, there was a death, birthday, wedding, or other big event, My Mom, Grandma Honey, and others went to one Italian restaurant to celebrate and have a good old fashioned Italian Family 5 course dinner. The 2nd to last time that I saw Grandma Mimi was a couple years ago at that same restaurant for a surprise party for her 90th Birthday. At the party, each of us kids (My Brother, me, and some of my cousins) had a job to do. Like My job was to welcome everyone to the party. Anyway, the part I remember the most was when she whispered in my ear, “You’re My Favorite Great Grandson”. But, I didn’t realize of how grateful I am because not many people get to see their Great Grandmothers because most of the time, they pass away either when you were young or not even born yet. And, I got to see My Great Grandma into my 20’s. So, if that doesn’t tell you how healthy she is, I don’t know what will. All in all, Great Grandma Mimi or just “Grandma Mimi” she was quite and awesome one. And, by the way, adding to her health record, her sister is nearing 100 and she is still alive!


Thanks for reading The Christianville Spirit. If your Great Grandma is still alive, cherish what you have while you have it.

This Week’s The Christianville Spirit is dedicated in memory of My Great Grandma Mimi.

The Christianville Spirit: My Out-of-Nowhere Questions

The Christianville Spirit
The Spirit that Inspires You
April 7, 2010- TCS # 193

For those of you that know me really well. I will sometimes out-of-nowhere ask a question that makes you really think and this question is no different. It started when I was watching Entertainment Tonight, watching a combination of Sandra Bullock’s divorce with Jesse James and Kate Gosling’s performance on Dancing with the Stars when a thought came to my mind as I watched the show and I glanced over at My Mom’s Cell Phone. And, then I asked “Hey Mom, Let me ask you a question.” I went on. “If it was possible to call any celebrity (TV, Movies, or Weather people) what would you tell them?” After I asked her, she didn’t know what to say. So, I told her” do you want to hear what I would say?” She says Yes, I continued” I would call Sandra Bullock. I would tell her that everything is going to be fine, everyone loves her (including me), and that I’m on her side with what happening with her.” And, now I’m going to ask you, My Readers the same question. If it were possible for you to call any celebrity (From TV, Movies, Others), what would you say to them? If you would like to answer this question, you can email me or Send me a comment on this newsletter, I would love to hear from you. All in all, Celebrities are people too, even though they are famous.


Thanks for reading The Christianville Spirit. Don’t judge people, because they may have something good to say to you.

The Christianville Spirit: Democracy Index

The Christianville Spirit
The Spirit that Inspires You
March 31, 2010- TCS # 192

So, one day I decided to learn more about The European Union because Europe, to me is the most interesting part of the world to me. Anyway, at one point I was reading about European Union International Relations and they mentioned about countries with different governments. Well, that led me to learn about all the different types of Government. And, finally that led me to a list from the author, The Economist called The Democracy Index. The Democracy Index ranks countries to their “State of Democracy“. They put the statistics by five general categories: Electoral Process and Pluralism, Civil Liberties, Functioning of Government, Political Participation, and Political Culture. Anyway, each country is given a score from 0 to 10 and the rank comes with the score. Also, next to score and rank they put one of the countries on the categories of “Full Democracy”, “Flawed Democracy”, “Hybrid Regimes”, and “Authoritarian Regimes”. (By the way, everything to “Hybrid Regimes” is Democracies) So, this is what I found, I’m going to give you to top 5 best; Sweden is 1st with a score of 9.88, Norway is 2nd-9.68, Iceland is 3rd- 9.65, Netherlands is 4th-9.53, and Denmark is 5th-9.52. And, here are a couple others…
Canada: 11th Place
Germany: 13th Place
Austria: 14th Place
Japan: 17th Place
United States: 18th Place
The Very Worst Country is North Korea with a score of 0.86
So, as you can tell these are the Ranks and Scores in the Democracy Index. After reading all of this, I was surprised by the scores because My Country, The United States was a higher score because it’s the democracy leader of the world. So, I wonder why the Europeans are more of a democracy than us. All in all, Each Respective Country has its own government and way of life. And, it’s very interesting to me to learn about.


Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. If you want learn more about The Democracy Index or see where your country, go to wikipedia.org and search “Democracy Index”

The Christianville Spirit: The Orchestra Adventure

The Christianville Spirit
The Spirit that Inspires You
March 24, 2010-TCS # 191

So, Last Saturday Night, My Brother and I decided to go see a performance at a place called The Myerson Symphony Center in the Arts District of Dallas to see The Dallas Symphony Orchestra. You see, My Brother takes a Music Appreciation Class and they told him that he had to go see a performance of some kind. So, He and I decided to go see this one. Now, I have never been to this place or even seen an orchestra performance. I mean, I watched a little bit of Boston Pops Orchestra one time on the 4th of July on TV. But, other than that, I haven’t seen one. Anyway, after walking around inside the Symphony Center, My Brother had go to a nice prelude lecture from his teacher about what we were going to hear, what inspired them, and where they were from. The People’s music we where going to here from was Back, Mozart, and Handel. My Brother’s Teacher taught us a lot about the different artists. The one I remember the most was Bach because the teacher showed a map of where he went to. She showed us that Bach moved all over Germany but, the main city he was in was a town called Leipzig which is south of Hannover and Berlin. Back then, he lived in West Germany which had a mix of Western German and Eastern French Culture. So, that is the origin of his music. The thing I remember from the Mozart part was that he was born in Hannover, Germany and he traveled to Italy many times. The part of Handel was that he made music for what was known as The Royal Family Fireworks which was a fireworks show put on in Green Park in London for the royal family. Now, just so you know Green Park is just north of Buckingham Palace. But, in the time period of Handel, Buckingham Palace wasn’t even built yet. So, after the prelude lecture, it was time to go to watch the show. The Show was actually really awesome and what amazed me the most was how fast their fingers moved across the violin. In the middle of the show, they brought out a 17 year old solo violin artist who was really good. In fact, one time she actually won an award for how good she was. After the performance, as we walked out it was snowing and I got to see what the place next door, The Winspear Opera House looked like in the dark and it lit up beautifully. So, all in all here, the performance was really awesome and it was cool to spend time with My Brother. I would recommend everyone to go see the orchestra.


Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Spend time with your family, even if it’s the one you see everyday.

The Christianville Spirit: Remembering Our Childhood

The Christianville Spirit
The Spirit that Inspires You
March 17, 2010- TCS # 190

So, Last Saturday, our childhood friend Meredith Herrick told us that she was going to have her 21st birthday party that night and not a lot of her friends were coming because Spring Break already happened for them. So, we decided we would go because we haven‘t seen them in a while and we should go see them. Now, keep in mind here that the last time we saw them was like 3 years ago. So, in a way it was sort of a reunion to see each other again after 3 years and a party for Meredith. Anyway, it was quite a surprise to see everyone all grown up. Like for example, the last time I saw my childhood friend, Brooke she was 13 years old, now she’s 16 years old and she looks prettier and taller than before. Whitney and Meredith look pretty as ever. Their younger sister Katherine is very smart and funny. After most of the people at the party left, all of us got to reminisce about our wonderful childhood we had and of course, the highlight of it, The Trampoline we had. In fact, Brooke told me that it was so special to her that she even wrote about it in a school paper recently about her Favorite Childhood Memory. Well, with such a great childhood like we had, there is a lot to remember about it. I mean, we had lived on a cul-de-sac; we had a trampoline to jump on, The Park, an Occasional Bike Ride, and the best of all, Four Yards and a Creek to run through without any fences. It’s kind of sad to think that a lot of kids don’t get to have the childhood we had because their surrounded by fences or have no one to play with so, their stuck playing Video Games inside. All in all, we had an awesome childhood and it was great to reminisce about it.


Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. If you had or have a great childhood, remember it and cherish it, forever.

The Christianville Spirit: All Guys Need Great Father Figures

The Christianville Spirit
The Spirit that touches Your Life
March 10, 2010- TCS # 189

For those that have seen The movie, “Lair, Lair” There is a part of the movie that every son wants to hear. You see, Lair, Lair is about a Dad who is a lawyer that Lies all the time. So, his son who has had enough of his lying makes a wish on his birthday cake that his dad would stop lying for a whole day. Anyway, nearing the end of the movie he runs through the park yelling and repeating many times “I Love My Son!”. Eventually, In the End(Spoiler Alert!) The son’s father stops lying and starts telling the truth. The thing is unfortunately that usually doesn’t happen for many sons because their dads have gotten in to such a habit of lying that they keep doing it. People who have to deal with these low-father figure people have names for them. They sometimes call them Buffoons and Schmucks. The point here is all sons like me want to be loved and have a great father-figure around them all the time. All in all, Dads are very important to boys at all ages and it would be a shame to not to have a great father figure.

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. If you have a father who a great father figure, Cherish the wonderful Dad that you have.

The Christianville Spirit: Acceptance Frees You

The Christianville Spirit
The Spirit that touches Your Life
March 3, 2010- TCS # 188

So, Every Sunday Morning at 10:00 I get up and watch a show about unique people across Texas called Texas Country Reporter. Anyway, one of the stories was a very touching one, even for me. The Story was a program they have the Kyle Correctional Facility in a small town south of Austin. What they do is they take dogs from a no-kill animal shelter that clearly have no training or obedience and probably have a less chance of getting adopted to the prison as a healing tool for the prisoners. So, they assign a prisoner a dog to train for 6 Weeks and that will have the prisoner help the dog while the dog helps the prisoner. Now, it takes a lot of acceptance to be in prison and even more to be assigned a dog to train. Acceptance is a hard thing for even the toughest people because it involves a lot of emotions that some we like and others we don’t. It’s actually a process to go through and some people start it but, don’t make it through. Acceptance starts out of course with Shock, and then comes Denial, Anger, Sadness, and finally Acceptance. Now, my advice to help with the Anger and Sadness would be to either watch a nice sad movie or write a letter to yourself and, or whomever your mad at. Anyway, back to Prisoner Story, what touches me to most was that the prisoner could talk to the dog about anything like how they got into prison or to release their emotions to the dog and the dog won’t judge them or go around telling everyone about that prisoner’s issues. At the end of 6 Weeks, they have a graduation ceremony where the prisoners gets to show everyone all the tricks they taught their dogs and some read letters they wrote to their dogs. And, at the end they send some of the dogs back to the Animal Shelter so, that they can get adopted. The Program benefit’s both the prisoners and the dogs. And, those dogs that got trained have a now higher of getting adopted by a family. All in all, that story was very touching and it shows “Man’s Best Friend” at its best.


Thanks for reading The Christianville Spirit. If you need a friend to talk to that won’t judge you. Talk to your pet, they’ll listen and not interrupt!

The Christianville Spirit: Humans and Animals at Peace

The Christianville Spirit
The Spirit that Inspires You
February 24, 2010- TCS # 187

This Newsletter for some people may be weird to some people or offensive to others. But, you might actually learn something from what I’m about to tell you. In The words of a guest star in an early episode of “Family Guy” says “War is an invention of Mankind” when she was talking about her love for Animals to A guy who liked her, whose name was Death. But, what this girl in the show was telling him is actually true; War is an invention of Mankind. And, come to think of it a lot of negative things are an invention of us when compared to Animals. Now, do Animals fight? Yes, they do fight but, however that is for a different reason. Animals fight because either we make them or to eat, so they can survive. We, however, fight because we want to get our way or we don’t like who the person or people are. People fight with Weapons, Guns, Bombs, or Nuclear Weapons. However, Animals don’t fight with anything, they fight with their paws and claws but, they fight naturally. All in all here We Humans should take note from Animals and fight for the reasons of needing to eat or for protection and learn to get along.


Thanks for reading The Christianville Spirit. Everyone should be at peace with each other and get along.

The Christianville Spirit: The All-Star Historic Snow Storm

The Tree in The Backyard in All-Star Historic Snow Storm

The Front Yard in All-Star Historic Snow Storm

The Christianville Spirit
The Spirit that touches Your Life
February 17, 2010- TCS # 186

So, A couple days before writing last week’s newsletter, Pete Delkus, the weather man on Channel 8, the ABC Station in Dallas told us that it was going to snow with accumulations but, they didn’t know how much. On Wednesday, Newsletter Day, they say that it’s going to snow 1 to 3 Inches and it’ll start in the afternoon. After the dogs barking at 3:30 in the Morning, the ground was clear while we were trying to see the dogs were barking at for some odd reason and kept my mom up until they stopped. Got My Mom up at 7:00AM to let them out to go potty, with something that even surprised her; there was already snow on the ground and lots of it. There was 3 Inches on the ground and still snowing that morning. So, she came to got me to look at the snow and I looked at the snow, recorded some for historical reasons and then, went to back to bed and got up at my normal time which was in the afternoon. Now, in a usual Dallas-Fort Worth Snow Storm, the snow is gone by the time I get up. So, when it was time for me to get up, I looked outside in hopes that the snow was there and it was. And, then I remembered what one of the reporters were saying on the news that morning, they said “Whether your child gets up at 7 AM or 2 in the afternoon, the snow will still be there.” so, after eating my brunch if you want to call it that, I played in the Snow with My Brother and it was fun. By the time, the evening came around it was still snowing and Pete Delkus was saying it was going to Snow 5 to 7 Inches. They were also saying this was already a historic snow storm because it never snows this much here in Plano and the funny thing of it was that that weekend was “All-Star Weekend” because of the 2010 NBA All-Star Game. Anyway, it continued to snow all day Thursday non-stop and snowed into early Friday Morning. Then, it stopped. So, Friday Morning My Mom got me up again at 7:00AM for another surprise, to see 6 to 9 Inches of Snow on the ground and I have to say what I saw was The Most Amazing Thing I’ve seen in My Life. Everything was covered in snow and I mean deep snow. The Cars, The Trees, and The Roads; Even the Signs were covered. Now, The Trees that Friday Morning were quite something. To give you a vision of what they looked like, they looked like Cheerleader Pom-Poms’ hanging down and a tree trunk holding them up. The ending Snow totals were quite amazing, here in Plano it snowed 9 Inches and the snow amount that beat many Dallas area records was 12 Inches(or A FOOT of Snow) fell at D/FW Airport. All in all here, that Snow Storm was one to remember. So, I gave it a name. I call it “The All-Star Historic Snow Storm”.

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Enjoy the good things in Life like a snowy day because it might be awhile before it happens again.

The Christianville Spirit: All Different Kinds of Love

The Christianville Spirit
The Spirit that Inspires You
February 10, 2010- TCS # 185

Ok, Everyone. It’s that time of year again, Valentine’s Day, the day of love. When people think of Valentine’s Day, you get divided opinions about it. You see, Some people absolutely love Valentine’s Day, For some people makes them depressed because it means having to the go through another Valentine’s Day alone, and some people they just hate it or have a special name for it. My Mom likes to call Valentine’s Day, Single Person’s Awareness Day because it reminds not just her but, all single people that they don’t have anyone to spend it with(unless that is they Children or Four-Legged Children. Then, at least SOMEONE to spend it with); Many people, not just single people relate Valentine’s Day to Couples and Public Displays of Affection or PDA. But, you see Valentine’s Day is not just about Couples and whether you have someone or not. It’s about Love in general and believe me there are different kinds of love. The kinds of Love are…
Best Friend Love
Friend Love
Animal/Puppy Love
Soulmate Love
Married Love
Children Love
Love so, Complicated it’s hard to explain
Cheating Love(which I wouldn’t recommend)
Religious Love
And, The most important Self Love
So, as you can see there’s not just having someone. You can love your Best Friend or Four-Legged Best Friend. All in all, the point here is that Valentine’s Day is about having some kind of love. And, as long as you have one of the loves above, you won’t be depressed or hate Valentine’s Day as much.

Thanks for reading The Christianville Spirit. Valentine’s Day is about all different kinds of love. So, cherish one of them.

The Christianville Spirit: Rhythm of My Heart

The Christianville Spirit
The Spirit that Inspires You
February 3, 2010- TCS # 184

Ok, Everyone. This is what you’ve been waiting for, my promised newsletter about my Echocardiogram. I had it done last Thursday morning. I was a combination of little nervous and a little excited. I was nervous because I didn’t know what was going to happen and I thought they would have to take my blood again like I had to get done 2 days before. Also, I was excited to see and hear my heart beating because I know it’s the very thing that keeps you alive. Now, I have to say that it can change your life and it did, mine. And, I recommend getting one just so you can see the very that keep you alive unless you don’t mind being a little uncomfortable for a little while. But, I’ll tell you in the middle of it, it’s so worth it because you get to see your heart beating, moving, and the valves flapping, plus you get to hear the blood moving in and out. The lady doing it was very nice about showing me all that was going on and she explained everything to me. This is very cool, and of course it goes without saying it’s also the heartbeat of God himself. Now, I know you all are dieing to hear my results. So, now I’ll tell you the results and be done with the “sappy stuff”. Well, My Results were actually pretty good. My Heart was good, almost everything in my blood was good except My cholesterol which was a major shock to me and My Mom, because we were really exited to hear at the PTLS Conference when they said that it wouldn’t be a problem. But, then again the studies were done on children, not the adults. So, my Bad Cholesterol was normal, My Good Cholesterol was low, and my triglycerides were very high. So, I’m anxious to learn more about the aging process of PTLS. This is the scariest part about being one of the oldest people in The PTLS Union without anyone else to follow or to look to for answers. All in all, My Heart, the very thing that keeps me alive is very important to me and that’s where my love for everyone comes from.

Thanks for reading The Christianville Spirit. Cherish Your Heart Always because it’s The very thing that keep even when your sleeping, takes in a lot of love and gives a lot of love all day, everyday

The Christianville Spirit: What I Think When I go to The Airport

The Christianville Spirit
The Spirit that inspires You
January 27, 2010- TCS # 183

So, I’ve been thinking about something that I think about when I go to an Airport. Where most people just think you go to, to get from Point A to Point B but, I think about it a different way. These thoughts start when I’m standing at the Airport waiting to go through security. My theory is that when you pass through the metal detector at security that you aren’t officially in The State and City that you are leaving. Like for example if you are at the airport in New York City, You’re no longer in New York City or New York State. My next theory is when your about to get on the plane from the walkway, your not on the State’s ground anymore. Now, my thoughts are different when you arrive into another airport, I’m going to use Dallas-Fort Worth Intl’ for my example. So, after you landed and you get off the plane, as your foot steps from the plane to the walkway, you have touched the ground of Texas. Then, after you’ve gotten into your car and drive along the airport road which in Dallas is called International Pkwy. There is a toll booth that you go through and at that point, you are officially in Texas. So, A little joke came to my mind before writing this and here it is. “So, this guy goes to The Airport and pays the baggage fee for his 1st bag. Well, The Ticket Counter Person says “You look Depressed” he says “I am” and The Ticket Counter Person says to him “Well, you’ll have to pay for the extra baggage!” All in all, this is how I see it and what I think about when I go to The Airport.

Thanks for reading The Christianville Spirit. Don’t let your life fly by as fast as the airplanes go

The Christianville Spirit: The Buried Life

The Christianville Spirit
The Spirit that Inspires You
January 20, 2010- TCS # 182

So, A couple weeks ago, I was watching a Movie on TV when I saw a commercial that interested me, it was a show about 4 young guys who created a list of 100 things that they wanted to do before they die and along the way, while making their dreams come true, they would help others do what they wanted to do before they die. Anyway, this show was actually on MTV. Now, before I get to the show I’m going to give you a brief history of MTV. First off, MTV was a channel to watch your favorite Music Videos. Until they started to add Reality Shows (which by the way, they still have) and, then recently they started to add a more sensitive touch to it instead of the normal reality shows or shows that are raunchy; it started with a show called how’s Your News? Which starred people with various special needs and then, that show unfortunately ended? And, now we have this show touching called The Buried Life. Like I said before, this is show about 4 young men who do 100 things that want to do before they die. Now, this question that this show is themed around, what do you want to do before you die has various answers. Like for example, asking out The Girl of Your Dreams, Have a Baby, Meet Your Soulmate, go somewhere you have been dreaming of going, or face your biggest fear. The list go on, The sky is the limit. So, writing this newsletter can’t go without asking that Life-Defying Question, What do you want to do before You Die? Me? Here are some of my things…
Go to Switzerland to see the pretty Alp Mountains
Stay or live in a wood cabin
Live closer to Family
Teach people about Potocki-Lupski Syndrome and how it makes me, me
Meet a couple celebrities like Sandra Bullock, Katherine Heigl, Selena Gomez, Jennifer Garner, and Oprah
Meet My Soulmate
Travel The United States and Europe
Maybe even live in Europe for a while
Give at least one homeless person, a home
So, those are some of the things on My “Bucket List”. All in all, I think that you should think of all the things that you want to do and do them.


Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Your Purpose and “Bucket List” are truly life’s guides. What’s on your “Bucket List”?

The Christianville Spirit: The Key to Life,Your Purpose

The Christianville Spirit
The Spirit that Inspires You
January 13, 2010- TCS # 181

Do you know the reason of what gets you up in the morning and go to work? Is it just to make money? Just to pay the bills? Or maybe because it’s your purpose? Ok, so my friends I know you’re asking, what is Purpose? Well, I’m going to tell you. Purpose, as I mentioned is that one thing that actually gets you up in the morning, head to work, and sometimes make you not mind sitting in Traffic for 2 hours. But, mainly Purpose is the one thing that makes you happy with your life and lets you feel like your doing things right. But, unfortunately most people spend their lives searching for it. Now, there are many things that have a purpose that we may not notice. Like, here’s one of my favorites, why do they have Road Signs? And the answer is to tell you where to go or where you’re at. And, of course to warn you of something going on ahead on the highway; or here’s another one, Why are there Subtitles on the TV? The reason for that is so, the people who are deaf, hard-of-hearing, or someone like me who wants to hear exactly what their saying so, that when someone says something that is funny, I know what the joke is about. Anyway though, everyone on This Earth has some kind of purpose, they don’t just know it. Instead they go to work every morning and deal with it, they enjoy what their doing because it’s what their supposed to be doing. Do you know what your purpose in life is? As for me, my purpose is to show people how I see the world, maybe inspire people and teach them about me and Potocki-Lupski Syndrome. And, show them that people with Special Needs can have strengths and a Purpose on Earth. All in all, though as you are reading this, realize that you have a purpose on earth, just look in your heart, it’s there.


Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Once you find your purpose, go for it and be happy!

The Christianville Spirit: Happy New Year 2010

The Christianville Spirit
The Spirit that Inspires You
January 6, 2010- TCS # 180

Hello everyone and Welcome Back to another exciting year of Newsletters to Inspire you. But, first off, Happy New Year! And Welcome to 2010. I believe 2010 will be an awesome year for you and all of us here at The Christianville Spirit. So, to start off this year I’m going to write about the song they play at the very beginning of the year, “Auld Lang Syne”. So, for the past several years; I asked in my mind, what does this song mean? And Every New Years, it’s sung and I didn’t know what it meant. But the thing is it means different things to different people. For some people it means that you should completely forget what happened in the past year and move on to the New Year. For Other People, it means you go through your friends and events list. Then, picks which ones you want to get rid of. And, of course, there are people who had such a bad year, they want to forget EVERYTHING that year and really can’t wait to scream, Happy New Year! So, those are a just a couple of meanings to that song. So, here’s what the song means to me. This story goes back to when I was in about 7th Grade when I had to take a Figurative Language Class and they taught me the saying “Wipe the Slate Clean” and I asked if it applied to New Years and, well it stuck. So, every New Year’s I do my normal things like take down my Christmas stuff; write a year-in-review, and many others. But, when I get to say Happy New Year, I wipe my slate of whatever negative things happened, something I just don’t want to remember, or something I did wrong. I wipe it all clean and can’t wait to begin the New Year. And, I’m only kidding here. But, nothing is funnier and my New Years isn’t complete until hearing Lake Superior State University’s list of overly used and banned words for the next year. And, yes a lot of them are pretty funny. So, all in all that’s what I believe that this songs; what does it mean to you?


Thanks for reading the Christianville Spirit. New Years is starting the year off right, don’t start it the wrong way.

The Christianville Spirit: Christian's Year-In-Review 2009

The Christianville Spirit
The Spirit that touches Your Life
December 30, 2009- TCS # 179

Ok, Everyone. It’s that time of year again, tomorrow is New Year’s Eve and that means not only a new year coming. But, also a new decade; and, of course watching the ball drop. But, there’s one thing I love to watch and do BEFORE watching the ball drop and that is the Year-In-Review. So, on the last Wednesday of the year, I write what I call “Christian’s Year-In-Review”. So, without further a due here is “Christian’s Year-In-Review 2009”. Now, 2009 for me was a good year but, I know that for most of you, 2009 wasn’t the best of years. Anyway, as with every year we start in January; In January 2009, a big change happened in The City of Christianville. At The State of Metro Area Address on January 12, Christian and City Counsels of The Metro Area changed the Name of 3 Major Freeways of Christianville (Christian Centeno Frwy. Turned New England Cities Frwy., Christian Centeno Tollway turned to Sophie Memorial Thruway in honor our dog, Sophie, and Christian Centeno Expwy. Turned to Brooke Frwy.) In February, I got a call from My Best Friend, Steven telling me that he was finally coming home after 4 Years in 2 different group homes and that was very exciting for me that he was coming home. On February 17, TV Stations in smaller markets like Madison, WI and Burlington, VT changed their signals to DTV. On March 9, The Dow in the stock market closed at 6547.05 which marked lowest point of The Recession. In April, I wrote a newsletter about The History of The Christianville Spirit. Also in April and going into May, I decided to write a series called “Potocki-Lupski Syndrome: Christian’s Story” which was about explaining everything about Potocki-Lupski Syndrome to help people better understand why people with Potocki-Lupski Syndrome or PTLS do certain things or do things a certain way. June was a very awesome month for me because there was a lot of thing that happened that very monumental to me. The first thing was the DTV Switch on TV which was really awesome to watch. After that, our annual Gulf Shores trip and then, following that was the 1st ever PTLS conference where I got to meet a lot of Families who had someone with PTLS. It was really awesome to get to meet all the families and of course I saw families that I already knew. But, what amazed me the most was that their where that many families there and seeing My Brother play with some of the kids was very touching to me. And, also he finally understood everything about me and PTLS which that too was very awesome. As busy and awesome as June was, July was a very quiet month. On August 11, I turned 22 Years old and I wrote a newsletter stating how significant My Birthday was to me. In Late August into September, I took that 19 Day Cyber trip from Bethel, ME all the way home and that was the longest cyber trip I’ve ever taken. Also, in September I started Special Olympics Bowling which a lot of fun and I’m going to tell you what I got for it when I get to the “November” section. On October 22, I got to the biggest outside family reaction ever from the newsletter I wrote about the SunnyGram Email Service. The reaction was a comment from a guy named Jim from SunnyGram thanking me for talking about the service in my newsletter. On October 26, My Brother turned 21 Years Old which was really cool. Also, in October and going into November I started my “Simple Affections” Series. And, now for the part that I promised to tell you a couple minutes ago. On November 14, I had a Regional Tournament for Special Olympics Bowling and I bowled so well that I got a Silver Medal and it felt was Awesome! In fact, I wore it the rest of the day. And, now for December; On December 19, A Nor’easter hit Washington D.C, Philadelphia, and Long Island. This Nor’easter was called “The Blizzard of 2009” because of 2 reasons. The 1st reason is because it was the week before Christmas and people where trying to get to their family’s house or wherever they were going. The 2nd reason was because it snowed 2 feet or 24 Inches in Washington D.C which doesn’t happen that often. For Christmas, My Mom and I decided to spend Christmas with My Family in Atlanta and let me tell you, which was pretty awesome. Christmas was pretty fun in Atlanta, I got a lot of presents, we got to see Christmas Lights, and one family moment that I remember probably forever. You see, My Uncle Bruce and Aunt Carolee have this tradition where they go out a Christmas Light Park at Lake Lanier which is north of where they live. Anyway, at the beginning of it they had a one-by-one “12 days of Christmas” display. So, for example “The Partridge in a Pear Tree” was lit up. Anyway, So I decided that we should sing “The 12 days of Christmas” each time we saw a light display of the next day. Man, you should seen a moment like that with my Uncle Bruce, Aunt Carolee, Grandma Honey, My Mom and I, and my cousins Gram, Callie, and Parker all singing “12 days of Christmas” and it was really funny because some of us sung quieter when we didn’t know the words. But, the most awesome part was all of us singing that song as a Family, Smith and Centeno. The drive from Plano to Atlanta is really nice because I like to see all the signs, the trees, and what has changed along the route. So, to end the year 2009, I tell you that it snowed 1 Inch yesterday and it was really cool and I had a fun time playing in it. What a way to end the year 2009. All in all, I had a good year with many big events and I hope you had a good year too. And, I can’t wait for another year of touching newsletters and hopefully, the 200th newsletter of The Christianville Spirit

(For the Last Time in 2009)

Thanks for reading The Christianville Spirit. I hope you had good year in 2009 and be back here for another year of inspirational newsletters in 2010!

The Christianville Spirit: Christmas Traditions

The Christianville Spirit
The Spirit that touches Your Life
December 16, 2009- TCS # 178

Ok, Everyone. It’s that time of year again, The Holiday Season. The Holiday Season has 4 holidays which are Hanukah, Christmas, Kwanza, and New Years. But, one major thing about every holiday season that everyone has is traditions. Traditions are things you like to do around that time of year that makes you feel like it’s that holiday. Like for me, that means putting the tree in the beginning of December, taking a drive through Deerfield(which in Plano, is THE neighborhood to see The Christmas Lights), and of course getting up Christmas Morning to see what Santa got us. You see, it seems though that Christmas is getting more about the shopping than traditions and spending time with Family. According to My Mom, Traditions and spending time with family were very big back then. Hence that oh so famous song “Home for The Holidays”. Now, when it comes to Christmas Music, people are much divided between the traditional music and today’s Christmas music (or I call it, Modern Christmas Music). As for me, I’m actually both, I’m mostly modern but, I love traditional ones like “ White Christmas”, “Home for The Holidays”, and of course, “Felix Navidad”. however, there are certain songs CAN NOT be remade like “The Little Drummer Boy” and a couple others. All in all, the point here is that you should spend time with Your Family, do your traditions, and maybe create new ones.


Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. I hope you have a wonderful Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, and Happy Kwanza. Enjoy The Holiday Season as much as I do.

The Christianville Spirit:(TCS Series) What We Think as Normal is......

The Christianville Spirit
The Spirit that touches Your Life
December 9, 2009- TCS # 177

Ok, Everyone it’s time for the 7th and final installment of The Christianville Spirit Series, “Simple Affections”. Each time around New Years that Lake Superior State University in Michigan comes up with a list of words or phases that are overrated and shouldn’t be used in the next year; Well, I’m going to tell you should be on that list and that is Normal. But, I’m not going to write about how to be Normal, instead I’m going to write about what we think is normal and the cures of it. So, further a due this is The Christianville Spirit Series, “Simple Affections” on what we think is Normal.
WHAT WE THINK AS NORMAL is…?
Dressing a certain way to look great
Putting pictures of pretty girls to sell things. (which by the way effects little girls self-esteem)
Judging people by their language, skin color, clothes, and appearance
Hearing someone make jokes and make fun about people with Special Needs.
Misjudging people’s potential just by the way they look.
The Hurry, Hurry, Hurry lifestyle
Staring at someone because they have been burned or have something on their face.
So, now with all that stuff; how do you cure something like that?
Well, I’ll tell you, I’m calling it “How NOT to be Normal or The Anti-Normal”
Dance like no one is watching
Sing like no one is listening
Laugh at all the pictures of all the pretty girls because you know that you are more unique than them and if given the chance, Prettier than them.
Don’t laugh at the Special Needs Jokes they show on TV
Tell a little girl that she is in fact is pretty
If you’re at a festival and there’s someone playing music, stop for at least a minute and listen to them play.
And, most important of all, give someone a chance to show their potential before judging them.
All in all, the point is someone believes something is normal. But, you know there’s really no such thing is normal. There are different kinds of it.

Thanks for reading The Christianville Spirit. Now, I have to ask, “Who really has disabilities, our society or people with Special Needs?” because I think it’s our society.

The Christianville Spirit:(TCS Series) Your Soulmate is......

The Christianville Spirit
The Spirit that touches Your Life
December 2, 2009- TCS # 176

Ok, everyone. It’s time for 6th installment of The Christianville Spirit Series, “Simple Affections”. When I was deciding on what simplify I thought about writing about Love. But, however Love is hard to simplify because you can have different relationships. So, instead I’m going to write about something that is easier and much less complicated. So, I’m going to write about Soulmates. Now, before I begin, I have to explain what they are. Soulmates are people who you have fallen in love with or knew in a past life and then, you separate. In your current lifetime they are still out there. When you find each other again, you fall in love with them and you’re the happiest you can be. Now, some people do and don’t believe in Soulmates. But, I can tell you that I do, I know my Soulmate is out there looking for me and I know everyone has a Soulmate contrary to what they believe. Anyway, the final thing I’ll say before starting is that a lot of people believe in meeting them in different ways. Some people believe that they’ll meet them in the following ways: via Serendipity (Fate), just running in into them one day, by fasting and meditating, or just by searching for them long and hard. But, I wouldn’t recommend that last one; I plan on meeting her serendipitously. So, anyway without further a due this The Christianville Spirit Series, “Simple Affections” on Soulmates.


YOUR SOULMATE is….
The person that you knew in a past life and are probably trying to find you.
“The One”
The Love of Your Life
“The One” that will make you the happiest you have ever seen yourself
“The One” who will take care of you when you need it(as long as you do the same to them)
The One person that your family will actually like
The One person that your friends will actually like
The One person that, that statement “It’s too good to be true” never apply. But, remember that Your Soulmate will not be perfect. They will have a couple flaws but, none that you have to worry about.
The One person will do anything to keep the Romance and the chemical in your Brain, dopamine up. Now, as for me. If that ever happened I would take her to an amusement park, a new restaurant, drive down a new road; because they say that doing those things will give the brain adrenaline.
The One person created by God for You
And, finally the one person in which you will actually be very happy with everyday in the rest of your life!
All in all, Soulmates will have a very wonderful aspect on Your Life and you will with their life as well. So, I hope that for me and for you that your Soulmates show up. I mean, after all they may be just around the corner waiting for you with open arms.

Thanks for reading The Christianville Spirit. If you have met your Soulmate already, be very grateful that you have them with your life.

The Christianville Spirit: (TCS Series) Thanksgiving is....

The Christianville Spirit
The Spirit that touches Your Life
November 25, 2009-TCS # 175

Ok, Everyone. It’s time for the 5th Installment of The Christianville Spirit Series, “Simple Affections”. For this installment, I’m going to tell about this time of year, Thanksgiving and going into The Holiday Season. So, without a due, this is The Christianville Spirit Series, “Simple Affections” on Thanksgiving.
THANKSGIVING is…
The Holiday which give thanks to the Home you live in, Your Family, Your Friends, Animals, and that Turkey your going to eat.
The Holiday that when it comes to decorations and songs often gets overlooked to Christmas (Although I love Christmas. But, I love Thanksgiving)
The Holiday that only has ONE song about it and it’s from Adam Sandler.
The Holiday that marks the beginning of The Holiday Season.
One of the holidays that I like because I love to eat stuffing.
The Holiday that no matter how much you try to keep your weight down, it always goes up after words.
The Holiday that after Thanksgiving, it’s the busiest shopping day of the year, it’s called “Black Friday”
The Holiday that you’re allowed to sleep the rest of the day after you eat Thanksgiving Dinner.
The Holiday that you can secretly sneak to “the fridge” in the middle of the night to eat left-over turkey and stuffing because it’s SO good!(but, make sure not overstuff yourself)
And, finally the most important of all, The Holiday that you should be thankful for EVERYTHING you have. The People, The Places, The Things, That ever comfortable A/C and of course the roof over your head.
All in all, Thanksgiving is about being thankful for things you have and not just the turkey that’ll be in your stomach.

Thanks for reading The Christianville Spirit. I will say that I am very thankful for my readers here on The Christianville Spirit. And, all the doctors and parents of The Potocki-Lupski Syndrome Union!

The Christianville Spirit:(TCS Series) Animals are....

The Christianville Spirit
The Spirit that touches Your Life
November 18, 2009- TCS # 174

Ok, Everyone it’s time for the 4th Installment of The Christianville Spirit Series, “Simple Affections”. for this installment I’m going to tell you about something that a lot of us have passion for, Animals. A lot of people have a passion for Animals, whether you like dressing them in what we think are hilarious or cute outfits that they probably think are ridiculous. To those who very quickly change the channel before they see an animal attack and eat another animal but can’t get it out of their head after they’ve changed the channel. So, without further a due this is The Christianville Spirit Series, “Simple Affections” on Animals.
ANIMALS Are….
Our “Four-legged Friends” and often our children as well
The “Four-legged Friends” that will sit with us and try not to cry when your watching a sad movie and your crying.
The “Friends” that understand everything your saying and if need be they’ll give a bark or meow in response.
The “Friends” that you can talk about your troubles and they won’t tell anyone.
The Furry things we very unfortunately slaughter and kill to have our precious hamburger(unless, that is you’re a vegetarian or vegan.) and I wouldn’t be surprised if you wanted to be after I wrote that.
Also beaten by very cruel people and it makes you cringe like crazy
The “Friends” that will still love you even if you discipline them or accidentally step on their tail.
The poor racing horses that get names that they really shouldn’t have.
The “Friends” that if you won’t have children or don’t want children. They are your children, your “Four-Legged Children” that is.
And, the most important of all, they are “Friends”, “Four-Legged Friends/Children”, and Furry things that should be treated with love and respect.
Now, as any Animal Lover will tell you, if you are ready for an animal and you will respect it, I would suggest that you run down to ASPCA or your Animal Shelter and go get a “Four-Legged Friend” or “Four-Legged Friends”. if you won’t respect one, then DON’T GET ONE! All in all, here Animals are a piece of God’s Work. So, Honor him and them.

Thanks For Reading The Christianville Spirit. Animals are a piece of God’s Work. So, Honor him and them.

The Christianville Spirit:(TCS Series) Friends Are.....

The Christianville Spirit
The Spirit that touches Your Life
November 11, 2009- TCS # 173

Ok, Everyone it’s time for the 3rd installment of The Christianville Spirit Series, “Simple Affections”. For this installment, I’m going to write about what Friends mean to me. So, without further a due, this is The Christianville Spirit Series “Simple Affections” on Friends.
FRIENDS are….
The People who support you(besides Your Family) when your in trouble
The people who become Your Best Friend when they are the first nice person to welcome you to a new town
An exception to the statement: Friends can be Your Own Dog or Cat when you don’t have any friends
The People who will sit through YOUR genre of movie instead of their own. Like for example, your friend like Action Movie and you like Romantic Comedy.
The people who are willing to walk or drive to your house when you have just had an ugly break-up
The people who start a weekly hang out event with you a bunch of your friends, just to see you.
The people who are the first to call you after you’ve gotten home from a trip
And, the Most Important one is that friends will be there for you when you need them the most.
All in all, you should cherish the friends you have because believe it or not, they influence you and you influence them.

Thanks for reading The Christianville Spirit. Once you pick good friends, cherish them. Because they lead you places( Hopefully, good places) no one else besides your family does.

The Christianville Spirit:(TCS Series) Family is...

The Christianville Spirit
The Spirit that touches Your Life
November 4, 2009- TCS # 172

Ok, everyone it’s time for the 2nd Installment of The Christianville Spirit Series, “Simple Affections”. For this installment I’m going to tell you about something will touch your heart. It’s something that we care about more than ourselves, Family. So, without further a due, this is The Christianville Spirit Series, “Simple Affections” about Family
FAMILY is…
The People your somehow related to
When your laughing at a weird joke someone made and you think, “ wow, This is My Family”
When there’s a Family Emergency, you are willing to fly or drive halfway across the world to see them and help them.
When you have a “Family Moment” you feel closer to your own Mom, Brother, or Sister than you do on a normal day.
If you do something wrong or someone wrongs you, It effects the whole family and of course Reputation (or Rep. for short) of your Last Name.
However, if you become a star like Oprah or Brad Pitt, your family becomes a star also.
If you do something really wrong, it becomes a family table meeting. Like on the ABC show Brothers and Sisters for example, if one of them does something it becomes a “Family Dinner”
And, finally the most important, Family makes you who you are.
All in all here, Family is Family and like it or not they are you. So, cherish the family you have now; Because you may not have any later.

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. This week’s inspiring note comes from Financial Advisor Susie Orman “If you make your average, great. Your dreams will come true.”

The Christianville Spirit:(TCS Series) Home is...

The Christianville Spirit
The Spirit that touches Your Life
October 28, 2009- TCS # 171

It’s seems like Everyday we hear about The ever-damaging Recession, Health Care Issues, Taxes, and peoples 401Ks that went cafluey. So, it’s not very often that we hear about the Simple Things in life and what we take for granted. So, I’m going to a series about it, I’m going to call it “Simple Affections”. This series will be about thing put in Simple format about one subject. So, without further a due this is The Christianville Spirit Series, Simple Affections. For this installment of this series we’re going to start from where our days end and begin, Home.
HOME is…
Where the Heart is
Where, when a bully says “Go Home and cry to your mommy!” you can do that and no one will ever know(except your family, of course)
Where your loving family is waiting for you
The place to go for The Holidays
Where you can share secrets to Your Family instead of your friends
If you are single and depressed, you can sit and cry through tearjerkers alone, instead of at the movies
Where you can secretly crush on a celebrity in the comfort of your room instead of the movies
And, probably the most important, where you have a roof over your head and A/C to keep you cool and Heat to keep warm.
All in all here, there are people who don’t have these lovely things. So, cherish the house you live in, No matter if it’s chaotic or eerily quiet.

Thanks for reading The Christianville Spirit. Cherish the home you live in, you don’t know what you got till’ it’s gone.

The Christianville Spirit: A SunnyGram, A New Way to Email

The Christianville Spirit
The Spirit that touches Your Life
October 21, 2009- TCS # 170
So, I was watching the News like I always do and the other day, they mentioned that I thought would be helpful to our “Younger People”. You know how people these days email each other a lot? Well, how about emailing your grandparents or parents that don’t know how to work or not have a computer, well now you can. They call it a SunnyGram, a SunnyGram is a service for people who either don’t know how to a work a computer or a person who doesn’t have a computer. And, how it works is you and other write an email to them and, SunnyGram compiles all the emails into a newsletter-like format and then, sends it to them via Their Mailbox. And, they can respond by writing their response in a pre-paid envelope back to you. So, now you can email a family member that doesn’t know how to work a computer or have one by email and have it sent to them. And, by the way, the newsletter format is in big letters so that they can read it also. I believe it will be a faster way to communicate with them, without sending letters that take a longer time to get to them. All in all, it’s an amazing way to keep your “Younger” member of the family both informed and in the loop.

Thanks for reading The Christianville Spirit. With SunnyGram, you can email anyone and they can read it too!

The Christianville Spirit: Your Body is like A Computer

The Christianville Spirit
The Spirit that touches Your Life
October 14, 2009- TCS # 169
So, one day I was thinking about something that I could write about in my newsletter and I came up with something that you will think is pretty funny and actually, will help you learn something. You see, a lot of people don’t know a lot about computers, even the younger people. So, I’m going to compare parts of a computer to your body and your life. So, let’s start with the most important part of a computer, the CPU or Central Processing Unit, the brain of the computer and funny enough, your body. Also, in the brain is the Hard Drive, the Hard Drive holds everything on your computer like Programs, Documents, Temporary Internet Files, and more.. Just like the human brain hold Emotions, Memories, Thoughts, controls blood flow, and your heart. Next, we move to the Eyes, Nose and Mouth. The human eyes to a computer would be like downloading something(a Program, Software, or just a picture of someone) and , sometimes, if we see something that disturbs us that we download onto our brains and it’s hard to get off. The human nose is the air flow for ventilation of the computer like it is the air flow(Besides the mouth) of a human. The Mouth is how the computer talks to other computers and funny enough, when you IM someone, your computer is talking their computer. Now for the stuff that badly effects your computer, a Virus is when you get sick like when you have The Flu, A cold, or other illnesses. You get a Trojan when you are very negative and if it doesn’t get fixed, it “Steals” your happiness(other wise known as Programs and Safety on Your Computer) and regular behavior(computer running fine) Crashes. Just like a Computer Trojan steals your Credit Card info, Passwords, and other things. Spyware, you get if your in a relationship and your jealous or cheating on your partner. And, you need to “Spy” on them. In a computer‘s case, a Hacker spies on you and watches websites you go to, see through your built-in camera and even key strokes. Your Heart holds the “Feelings Folders” or your system folders that the system HAS TO keep and the keys to your heart or otherwise known as your passwords. Just like you protect your heart, you should protect your passwords. Food to a human is RAM to a computer(or other wise known as how much your computer can hold.) and occasionally, you have dump your RAM into your Recycle Bin to empty it and guess what part of the body that is. So, when you poop your getting rid of unwanted or old documents, “temporary negative files”, and RAM. Finally, the human skin is the same as the keys on your computer so, when touch them your inputting data into your computer. All in all, The human body is very much like a computer and I hope this helps you better understand computers and your body.
　
Thanks for reading The Christianville Spirit. Like the human body, a computer should be treated with Respect.

The Christianville Spirit: The Sweet Albinos

The Christianville Spirit
The Spirit that touches Your Life
October 7, 2009- TCS # 168

On Friday nights on ABC they have a show called 20/20. It’s a show by ABC News that about the events of the day or something that is happening that we don’t take notice of and gets you thinking about it. This past Friday, they talked about Albinism and what life is like with it. Albinism, people mostly refer to as “Albino“. “Albinos” are people whose skin doesn’t show any color, their skin is pale white. They said that a lot of Albinos get made fun of in Public School which usually pushes them into going to either Private School or just be home schooled. They showed one girl who she says she was walking down the street in New York City and “This fashion photographer” as she says came up to her and told her how pretty she looked and she should be a model. And, today actually she is a model, probably the first model with Albinism. The great thing is that I met that photographer in Houston when we where speaking at a conference together and he took my picture. His name is Rick Guidotti. His photo organization is called Positive Exposure and he is very involved in the Tanzania issue. And, let me tell you that part really touched and bothered me so much that I didn’t want to watch the rest of it. You see, in Tanzania they abuse them like they abuse the animals that make our food. They cut off their legs, arms, and other body parts like their not even human and they SELL THEM in a Black Market. Oh and by the way, those sweet albino people are still alive when they cut off their body parts and also their family are forced watches this. And, they say that if the family or the sweet albino screams then they cut off more body parts. So, say a prayer for those people. All in all, just because albinos have pale skin doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be treated like Humans.

Thanks for reading The Christianville Spirit. Albinos deserve respect from our society and our world!

The Christianville Spirit: Special Olympics is Fun

The Christianville Spirit
The Spirit that touches Your Life
September 30, 2009-TCS # 167
So, a couple years ago My Best Friend Steven and I decided to do Special Olympics Bowling one year and it was really fun. We went all the way to the area tournament and I think I got 4th place and I got a ribbon, however I had forgotten I put it. Anyway, after years of not playing on the team, this past summer I decided to join the team again and it is fun. You would be amazed at how well we bowl. You see, just because we have special needs and bowl differently doesn’t mean we don’t bowl well. I mean, take me for instance I can bowl from a 96 to 135 and get many strikes. Some of my friends on my team bowl just as well. Even the parents are amazed and my brother, even though he’s seen me bowl before is really amazed. A dad of one of the kids on my team said, “A lot of people don’t see the potential that these kids have”, even though we’re young adults but I have to agree that he’s right, some of these guys are very good. We play every Sunday for 2 hours, the parents come to cheer, and we all have fun. Some of the families with kids of PTLS reading this might want to have them join a Special Olympic sport because they might have fun as well. All in all here, we all do pretty well and better than you would expect from someone with Special Needs.

Thanks for reading The Christianville Spirit. Don’t misjudge someone’s potential because you will be awed at what they can do.

The Christianville Spirit: My Awesome Cyber Trip, Continued

The Christianville Spirit
The Spirit that touches Your Life
September 23, 2009- TCS # 166

So, right after I wrote last week’s newsletter I had forgotten to give to the totals of my cyber trip and that my trip wasn’t finished. So, here is the last leg of it. From Shreveport, LA I drove further into our home state of Texas and drove the rest of the way into Dallas and then, home. So, here are the grand totals for this long cyber trip…
72 Hours on the computer driving
19 days altogether
15 States
112 Counties
$36.45 in tolls
I wrote Notes about things I saw, Passed, Facts about places, or just things I wanted to note: all ending in 84 Pages of Notes
3 Pens used to write those notes
And, of course all of adventure and culture
All of this added up was one long cyber trip and I’m actually marking it as the longest trip ever taken.
What I learned from this 19 day trip is that there’s a new kind of culture each time you cross a State Line or even just a County Line. As I narrated my cyber trip to you, you could probably in vision all the beautifulness of the places I went. And, of course all the many changes in English dialect and many regional jokes about themselves and other parts of the country. In fact, a lot of Jokes about Up North(From New York State and New England) say things like their “deep south” is Philadelphia, PA and that as far south as they’ll go. Then, the mid-Atlantic with all the politicians living around Washington D.C, and then, last but not least The South, with their sweet Southern Hospitality, Sweet Iced Tea, and Classic Southern Roots. All in all, here is that all this culture you see from State-to-State is why our United States of America is great.
Thanks for reading The Christianville Spirit. Culture and dialects from State-to-State is makes our country great and amazing.

The Christianville Spirit: My Awesome Cyber Trip

The Christianville Spirit
The Spirit that touches Your Life
September 16, 2009- TCS # 165
As I mention a lot, I love to use Google Maps’ Street View and do a “Cyber Trip” a lot. So, the one I’m going to tell you about isn’t that much different. Except for the fact that it could be the longest cyber trip I’ve been on. You see, it started out as an idea of cyberly driving from Maine, back home to Plano, TX and how many days it takes to drive without flying. See, usually I’ll drive from say The Adirondacks and to New York City, then fly to Baltimore and see Washington D.C. then fly again to Atlanta and see my family and then, drive home. But, this trip is all about driving; In fact, I’m still driving, I’m going to cyberly drive later today. So, I decided where to start and I started in a town called Bethel, Maine because they say it’s the most beautiful village in Maine. Next, I drove across New Hampshire going up and down Mt. Washington, the tallest mountain in northeast and the meeting of many storm tracks, hence the extreme weather there. In fact, it’s so extreme here are some facts for you…
The highest wind speed on earth, 231 MPH was recorded on Mt. Washington’s Weather Observatory
Yearly snow amount is 314.8 Inches of Snow
It is the meeting of many weather systems like Gulf Moisture Storms, Nor’easters, Alberta Clippers, and Pacific-Northwest/Cross Country Storms, and finally a couple Lake-Effect Storms from the Great Lakes.
So, now you can see why it gets so extreme. Anyway, then I continued across New Hampshire and into Vermont. Following That, I saw the Adirondacks(or what I call A-Dacks for short) in New York State which were very pretty and then, drove to New York City to see Times Square, Rockefeller Center, The Empire State Building, and a place in Uptown Manhattan called Serendipity 3. Serendipity 3 is a General Store/Restaurant on E. 60th St. between 2nd and 3rd Ave. They say that they have the best desserts including a treat called the frozen hot chocolate which they say is really good and believe it or not, a $1,000 sundae with edible gold. After that, I drove through New Jersey (which had not been done before) and down to Philadelphia. I went into D-town Philadelphia (Downtown for short) and saw the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. Still in Philadelphia, I went to a restaurant featured on The Travel Channel called Pat’s King of Steaks which is said to be the birthplace of the Philly Cheese Steak. After That, I went to Broad St. in South Philadelphia not meaning to find much and I found the flags of the United States in alphabetical order hanging on the street lights. They say that they call that section of S. Broad St. “Ave. of The States” After That, I drove past the Mason-Dixon Line which is the cultural divide of The North and The South. After that, I went to Baltimore which was where the Star-Spangled Banner was sewed and inspired “The Star-Spangled Banner” to be written. In Fact, in Baltimore a place called The Star-Spangled Banner Flag House and Historical Museum which is the home of Mary Pickersgill who sewed The Star-Spangled Banner Flag that inspired the written of our nation anthem. Before D-Town Baltimore was the last of may toll booths along the way from Albany, NY to Baltimore, MD. So, here are the toll booths I went through and what they cost…
New York State Thruway
$2.50 from Albany to Kingston, NY(Kingston is Where I spent the night)
$ 2.75 from Kingston to a toll booth south of West Point
$5.00 to cross the Tappen Zee Bridge
$ 1.25 at End of the New York Thruway
New York City Area
$5.50 to take the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel
$11.00 to cross the Verrazano Bridge into Staten Island
New Jersey Turnpike
$0.60 from Perth Amboy to New Brunswick(New Brunswick is where I spend another night)
$ 2.60 from New Brunswick to Pennsylvania Turnpike Extension
Pennsylvania Turnpike
$1.25 from beginning of turnpike to Bristol Pike(one exit after beginning)
Other Tolls
$4.00 for Delaware Turnpike(one toll booth)
And, the final toll: $ 2.00 for the Fort Mc Henry Tunnel
And, final total is $ 36.45
After that, I drove down Baltimore-Washington Pkwy. Which is sort of a scenic highway between Baltimore and Washington D.C.? Then, I drove into Washington D.C to see a place outside of Union Station that should be called “50 State Flag Plaza” because it has the flags of the states of the US in order by state admitted to the union. Still in Washington D.C I drove down Pennsylvania Ave. to what is known as the Zero Milestone which is just south of The White House. The Zero Milestone is supposed to be to where all mileages to Washington D.C should be measured. But, the sad thing is that only mileages in the Washington D.C area measure to it. Anyway, after that I drove through Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina (which also hadn’t been done before) and along the way I almost passed a town called Thomasville in North Carolina; and, it’s good thing that I didn’t miss it because first off it’s where the furniture store, Thomasville Furniture originated and also, they had a big chair in the town square that is the world largest chair. After That, I drove passed something that I didn’t know I was going to see. The funny thing was that day I watched a You Tube video about a huge peach water tower in Gaffney, South Carolina called “peachoid” and when I was cyber traveling I saw it that day I saw it and I thought “how ironic that I saw that on a you tube video but, I didn’t think that I would pass it!”. After that excited, I drove to Norcross, GA and stayed there for a little break in my trip and 2 days later, I drove to my Grandma Honey’s House to see her. After Grandma Honey, I passed The Weather Channel and started driving west across The Eastern/Central Time Zone Line and of course, the biggest cultural divide, The Mississippi River. And, I write this newsletter today I’m cyberly in Shreveport, Louisiana. But, all in all here the trip has been awesome and it teaches you how much culture can change as you travel.

Thanks for reading The Christianville Spirit. The Culture I’ve seen is so amazing; it can change as soon as you say “Happy New State!”

The Christianville Spirit: My Road Trip Preferences

The Christianville Spirit
The Spirit that touches Your Life
September 9, 2009(9-9-09)-TCS # 164
If you remember that a couple months ago I wrote a newsletter about My Radio and TV Preferences. Well, I’m going to tell you something in the area of Preferences. This one, I’m calling My Road Trip Preferences. Now, remember I don’t HAVE to do these things I’m going to list but, I like to. Now, first off I have to sit in the front seat or on the right side of the car so, that I can see the front and back of the Road Signs on the side of the road which we’re on. Now, in case you’re wondering, the Radio preferences stay pretty much the same. The next one is when we cross into another county, I have to announce it. Like saying “Hey Mom, now we’re in Smith County” and of course, then comes the most fun preference of road trips, when we cross a State Line, I have to count it down from 10 Seconds and then, when I enter that state, I say “ Happy New State!” like we say “Happy New Year!” on New Year’s Eve. Now, once we’re in the new state, I immediately look at the front and back of the road signs to see what the style of the new states’ signs look like. Also, I like to listen to a radio station from that state. If we stop for the night, I feel like I have to watch the news in that city because I like to see the logo of the channel in that city. For example, I like that Atlanta’s WSB-TV, the ABC channel in Atlanta has a yellow number 2 with a blue background. And, at the end of the newscast it shows that and below it says in white with a red background “WSB-TV- Atlanta”. And, finally, if the state has a different color surrounding their traffic lights like Georgia’s is Black, and, Maine and New York’s are dark green then, I like to look at those also. All in all, those are my Road Trip Preferences. Now, who wants to go a trip with me?

Thanks for reading The Christianville Spirit. Life is a Highway. So, hop in your life car, take a couple exits, and explore the unique towns along the way!

The Christianville Spirit: Stop and Smell The Passion

The Christianville Spirit
The Spirit that touches Your Life
September 2, 2009-TCS # 163
So, This past Sunday, My Mom and I where watching church online like we always do and our Pastor was talking about Passion; Well, here’s a test how much passion people have today, someone did a study where they sent a someone to play a Violin in the middle a busy Washington DC METRO station to see what would happen. Well, after he started playing the violin it took 30 minutes for someone to stop only for a minute or two and then, they continued walking along their normal busy lives. A couple children turned their heads and wanted to stop and listen to this guy but, the parents pulled the children away so, that they could continue going. The sad thing is that very 30 or 45 minutes later, someone would stop for a second to listen and then move on to work or wherever they were going. Now, here is the most shocking part of this study, the violin player was the most famous violin player in the world and actually, he sold out seats at his concert the night before. So, what’s the point here? Well, it says that people these days are such in a hurry and don’t have a lot of passion that they don’t “Stop and smell the roses”. But, you know that if you did stop and smell the roses you would actually be very enlightened and even surprised at what you’ll find or see. So, all in all here don’t be one of those people who hurry on with your lives, stop and enjoy it. Talk to someone with Special Needs and see what enlightening things they tell you, drive through a small town on a US or State Highway/Route and see what amazing things you’ll find in that town, or literally stopping the smell roses, other flowers, or even trees. And, you’ll be surprised what you find or learn.

Thanks for reading The Christianville Spirit. Have passion to stop see things for what they are and you will be surprised, learn a lot, and be enlightened.